All eyes on courts this week

ISLAMABAD: All eyes are on the courts during this week as the Supreme Court (SC) and Islamabad High Court (IHC) are set to hear most important cases from today (Monday).

IHC Chief Justice Amir Farooq and Justice Mian Gul Hasan Aurangzeb will hear the appeal against the sentence of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif on November 21 (Tuesday) in the special bench of the IHC.

Nawaz Sharif spent 10 months and 26 days in jail in two cases. The Avenfield Reference trial lasted 9 months and 28 days. The Al-Azizia Reference lasted 1 year 3 months 16 days. Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz appeared in court more than 100 times during the trial.

Maryam Nawaz and Captain Safdar have already been acquitted, while NAB has said that there is no evidence against Nawaz Sharif in the Avenfield Flats case. Their acquittal in this case is only for one or two appearances and the punishment was not made in the Al-Azizia reference. There is a confession of the convicting judge the late Arshad Malik. The case must be dismissed or sent back to the accountability court.

In this week, there is a possibility that there will be a lot of progress regarding the cases against Mian Nawaz Sharif.

Meanwhile, the most important meeting of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC), the organization that works with regard to the accountability of judges of Supreme Court across the country, will be held today (Monday).

Applications against Justice Sardar Tariq and Justice Mazahir Ali Akbar Naqvi will be reviewed.

Complaints against Justice Mazahir Naqvi and Justice Sardar Tariq will be examined in the meeting. The objections of Justice Mazahir Naqvi will also be considered in the meeting.

The SJC had issued a show cause notice to Justice Mazahir Naqvi. On behalf of the council, the complainants against Justice Sardar Tariq have been summoned along with the evidence.

Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa will head the SJC as Chairman while he will be joined by the two senior-most members as well as the two senior-most Chief Justices of the high courts. Attorney General of Pakistan will appear as the prosecutor. Justice Mazahar Ali Naqvi’s answer will also be discussed.

It should be noted that Justice Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi of the Supreme Court objected to the inquiry of the SJC and demanded to exclude Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa and two other judges from the proceedings.

A four-member larger bench headed by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa will hear the cases of Pervez Musharraf on November 21 (Tuesday).

It should be noted that according to the written order of the Supreme Court (SC), appeal is the right of every criminal. It is unfortunate that the appeal is scheduled for hearing after 3 years and 8 months.

In its order, the SC said that despite the chamber orders, the appeal was not scheduled against the objections and the petitioner died, no Additional Attorney General (AAG) and senior lawyers present in the court objected to the scheduling of the appeal.

Musharraf’s appeal against the registrar’s objections is allowed. The written order further stated that according to Musharraf’s lawyer Salman Safdar, he is in touch with his widow and children.

The hearing on the appeal against Musharraf’s death sentence will be held on November 21.

The SC, while approving Musharraf’s appeal for hearing, said in its order that according to Musharraf’s lawyer, the Registrar objected to the appeal against which the appeal was filed in the chamber of former Chief Justice Umar Atta Bandial. “The judge asked the chamber to file the case in a larger bench but after that the case was not fixed and Pervez Musharraf died. It has been said in the decree that President Pervez Musharraf’s lawyer referred to the right of appeal in the Constitution. All the parties in the case were asked that no one objected to the appointment of Musharraf’s appeal, no party including the AAG raised any objection.

“Miscellaneous applications to fix Musharraf’s appeal for hearing are granted. Musharraf’s lawyer Salman Safdar took a stand that Azhar Siddique and Khawaja Tariq Rahim had tried the case in the Lahore High Court. He will not assist in this decision due to personal reasons. Requested 4-week time to take fresh instructions from relatives.

“Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa said that you have to take only one instruction whether to follow this appeal or not. The chief justice praised Pervez Musharraf’s lawyer for drafting the appeal against his conviction and said that he has read the appeal and it was a good document.